Archive
International News Services archives articles supplied to clients one year or more after initial publication. These articles are protected by a password and not made available to readers without permission from clients. They are used as a background resource by agency journalists. Upon client requests, International News Services will remove such articles from the archive or not upload them in the first place. They are included to demonstrate the breadth of topics undertaken by the agency and also to help promote clients’ coverage.
FACTORY FARMS - US
BY PHILIP FINE
AN ORGANISATION representing 50,000 public health professionals is calling for a moratorium on new "concentrated animal feed operations" – factory farms – in the USA. The American Public Health Association has cited drinking water contamination, growing antibiotic resistance through drug use in feed, worker respiratory problems and illnesses among people living near the farms.…
CLASS ACTION
BY PHILIP FINE
DESPITE the political rhetoric that labels it "jackpot justice", the average US class-action award has been holding steady, says a recent study by two law school professors. Cornell University’s Theodore Eisenberg and the University of New York’s Geoffrey P.…
LOW-CARB SCIENCE
BY PHILIP FINE
WHILE approximately 32 million Americans are currently following low-carb diet plans, many scientists are not convinced the trend is safe. A new study, appearing in the Asia Pacific Journal of Clinical Nutrition has reviews scientific literature related to diets such as Atkins.…
BEEF AD CAMPAIGN
BY PHILIP FINE
AFTER a two-week delay caused by the BSE outbreak in the USA, an American beef lobby group yesterday (Jan 26) finally launched a national ad campaign. The US$3 million in television adverts were originally scheduled to start running on January 12, but the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association felt they would have appeared too soon after the holiday-season discovery of BSE in a cow in Washington state.…
OBESITY FEATURE
BY PHILIP FINE
THERE is a two-word prefix that seems to be coming out of every American food manufacturer’s new-product department: Low-Carb.
The US is fighting an obesity problem. A staggering (in some cases – literally) 64 per cent of the population is overweight and the number of people carrying more than 100 pounds over their ideal weight has quadrupled in the last 20 years to one in every hundred.…
OBESITY COSTS
BY PHILIP FINE
OBESITY is costing America US$75 billion (GBPounds 41.4 billion) a year in medical treatments, a recent study has found. According to researchers at RTI International and the US Centers for Disease Control, the estimated percentage of annual health expenditures in each state attributable to obesity ranges from four per cent in Arizona to 6.7 percent in Alaska.…
LOW CARB FEATURE
BY PHILIP FINE
MANY key players in the US drinks industry have been trying to crash the low-carb party currently making aspects of the country’s food industry giddy with sales. The drinks producers have seen the statistics: 15 per cent of Americans (32 million people) are now following high-protein reduced-carbohydrate plans such as the Atkins Diet; sales of high protein items like meat, cheese and eggs are up and high carb products like potatoes and pasta are down or stagnant; and over 800 new products that make low-carb claims have been introduced in the last three years.…
SOFT DRINK COS PULLING OUT OF SCHOOLS
BY PHILIP FINE, in Montreal, Canada
Canadian beverage manufacturers have decided to pull soft drinks from school vending machines, according to Refreshments Canada. The trade group announced that next September, water and 100% fruit juices will make up at least half of the beverage selections offered for sale in Canadian elementary and middle schools.…
WINE REVIVAL - CALIFORNIA
BY PHILIP FINE
CALIFORNIA wine industry seems to be perking up after a three-year slump, claims Nat DiBuduo, president of Allied Grape Growers, a key California grape marketing cooperative. The industry’s earlier increases in production, allied with cheap imports and declining exports created an imbalance.…
CALIFORNIA INSURANCE CASE
BY PHILIP FINE
A LAW allowing insurance companies to levy premium surcharges on first-time drivers and motorists who have previously driven without coverage, has been struck down by a California court. A Los Angeles judge said state legislators had overstepped their authority when approving a bill allowing insurance companies to levy lower premiums on experienced drivers who have maintained coverage.…